Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-11-14
SMUGGLING WOMEN.
How tho Ladies' Fsel About D.frauding
the Public,

B0-t0n Transcript.
The listener has friend who is ALWAYS
maintaining that women have nothing at
ali Of what he calls the "public con-
scieuce"-the sense OF civic responsible
wrong which ia merely the "malum pro-
hlbitum," and not the thing that is wrong
in itself. mo womsn," he says, "would
hesitate to smuggle or to violate the
postal regulations IS often as possible
Have you any idea of the numoer of
written messages which women send in or
upon newspapers uader l cent stamps?
AS free trader myself I have certain
sympathy with smuggling provided it is
carried on without downright misrepsen-
tation and lying. The trouble is that
when one attempts to get dutiable articles
in without paying the duty On them he
must lie little, and we Can not begin
practicirg to deceive in this matter with
out suffering e certain moral deteriora-
ton. There were two ladies who came
over from Europe on the last trip which l
made who actually loaded the backs of
their dresses heavily with valuable cigars
which they were bringing to male mem
bers of their family. They found, after
they h6d prepared themselves, that they
could not sit down without smash
ing the cigars, and they actually
stood up in hack all the way up town in
New York, cliDgipg desperately to the
sides Of the carriage TO preserve them
selves from falling, and pulling down the
curtains to avoid exposing their singular
proceedings. This WAS to me en- as
tonishiDg amount Of zeal and trouble
simply in order to smug9le something
for the male members of the ladies' fami.
| IL would no doubt be quite as well con-
| tented with cigars of their own selection
as with those their female relatives might
bring them from Paris. [ really believe
that there are women who go abroad
chic fi7 for the fun and excitement 81
| smuggling something on their return"
An excellent woman who heard this
diatribe WAS very indignant, and declared
that she and her daughter had been abr bad
and had positively smuggled nothing
| whatever on their return.
"As for me-" she said-she belonged
to the family of gentleman noted for his
devotion to protecti0nist principles-"I
should as soon think of stealing as OF
smuggling"
"But, Mamma" said her daughter
plaintively, "didn't you know that had
| twenty-five yards of irish linen at the
bottom Of my trunk?"
"Nol" said the mother ia shocked as
constituent.
"Weu, did. 1 told the inspectors,
| Here's nv trunk; go for 1t poW!'
knew that if 1 did that way they wouldn't
really overhaul it. And they didn't
| They paved over q few innocent things
at the top, and those twenty-five yards Of
pre cious linen, spread out clear at the
| bottom, slumb. red peacefully without SC
touch as touch"
az I had known that" said the
mother sternly, 81 should have told The
officers"
Which incident shows that the snug
Cling instinct is hard thing to eradicate
even In protectionist families.
Just as the listener had proceeded tt
reouke the spirit on the part OF hi!
friend, which led to his assumption tina
there is a disposition on the part OF the
women in general to evade the postal reg
uletions, q newspaper from the mail
wrapped and addressed in O feminine
hand, was brought in for him. He opened
it and from the midst Of it there dropped
a pretty card of written adieuX from |
couple Of ladies who were just starting
on Journey, and who had, incidentally
to the transmission of newspaper which
contained something they wanted him Il
read, sent this written card with bot
their names signed upon it. And yet NJ
people in the world could be more scrupu
lousy honorable than these two ladies il
every relation Of lie.
II it is true that women have much les
sense OF responsibility in such matters, !
is due, perhaps, to the fact that the bust
ness contact of men with the world give
them habit of compliance with the use
full public regulations, which are after a.
but an adjunct to their business. Whe
8 woman writes message on the margi
OF g newspaper or encloses write
card In its folds, the chsrces are that tn
postal regulations never for an instan
enter her mind. She has not enough COZ
tact with them to bring them very proml
nently into her consciousness. A mar
however, has occasion to learn them an
instinctively follows them.
hnrr or tn